Notifications & Circulars

Press Information Bureau

11.04.2018

Commercial

Boost to Ease of Doing Business in Petroleum and Natural Gas Sector

MANU/PIBU/0730/2018

In line with the Government initiative of ease of doing business, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for delegating the powers to Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Finance Minister to award the Blocks/Contract Areas to successful bidders under Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) after International Competitive Bidding (ICB) based on the recommendations of Empowered Committee of Secretaries (ECS). Under HELP, Blocks are to be awarded twice in a year. Therefore, this delegation of powers will expedite the decision making process on awarding blocks and give a boost to the initiative of ease of doing business.

Impact:

Under the NELP Policy, ECS considers the Bid Evaluation Criteria (BEC), conducts negotiations with the bidders wherever necessary and make recommendations to CCEA on award of blocks. The CCEA approves the award of blocks. The entire process, including Inter Ministerial Consultations (IMC) is quite lengthy and time consuming. In consonance with the Government initiative of 'Ease of Doing Business', it is desirable to shorten the duration of time taken for award of the Blocks / Contract Areas. Under the New Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy' the competitive bidding will be continuous and blocks will be awarded twice a year.

Background:

Government of India launched a new policy regime for Exploration & Production (E&P) sector namely Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) in 2016 which is paradigm shift from earlier policy regime. The main features of new Policy regime are Revenue Sharing Contract, single Licence for exploration and production of conventional as well as unconventional Hydrocarbon resources, marketing & pricing freedom, etc. Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) under HELP, is main innovative feature wherein investor can carve out Blocks of their own interest and submit an Expression of Interest (Eol) throughout the year. Based on the areas for which expression of interest has been expressed bidding will be conducted every 6 months.

Government received an overwhelming response in first Eol cycle of OALP which started on 1st July, 2017 and closed on 15th November, 2017. In the first Bid round, 55 blocks, having an area of 59282 sq. km spreading across 11 States have been offered for bidding. The bidding process is being handled through a secured and dedicated e-bidding portal.

Tags : Power Delegation Business Ease

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Reserve Bank of India

11.04.2018

Banking

Reserve Bank of India imposes monetary penalty on IDBI Bank Limited

MANU/RPRL/0039/2018

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed, through an order dated April 09, 2018, a monetary penalty of Rs. 30 million on IDBI Bank Limited (the bank) for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) norms. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Section 46(4)(i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, taking into account failure of the bank to adhere to the aforesaid directions issued by RBI. This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.

Tags : Penalty Imposition IDBI Bank

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Press Information Bureau

10.04.2018

Civil

Release of Berths under Emergency Quota in Railways

MANU/PIBU/0723/2018

In order to meet the urgent travel requirements of High Official Requisition (HOR) holders, which includes Central Government Ministers, Judges of Hon'ble Supreme Court/High Courts of various States, Members of Parliament and other emergent demands, who are on the waiting list, a limited number of berths have been earmarked as Emergency Quota in different trains and in different classes. The quota is released by the Railways in accordance with the priority as per warrant of precedence and well established practice being followed since long. At the time of allotment of berths/seats, emergency quota is first allotted for self travel of HOR holders/Members of Parliament, etc., strictly as per their inter-se seniority in warrant of precedence. Thereafter, other requisitions received from various quarters are considered and the remaining quota is released taking into account various factors like status of passengers travelling, nature of urgency like travelling on government duty, bereavement in the family, sickness, job interview, etc.

Emergency Quota Cells are located at Zonal/Divisional Headquarters and at some of the important non-Headquarter stations. These Cells normally function under the control of a gazetted officer supported by requisite number of staff posted by Zonal Railways.

Tags : Emergency Quota Berth Release

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Press Information Bureau

10.04.2018

Commercial

India Signs MOU With World EXPO 2020 Dubai

MANU/PIBU/0724/2018

India and World Expo 2020 signed participants contract today for India's pavilion in the prestigious World Expo 2020 held once in 5 years. The contract was signed by Shri Manoj K. Dwivedi, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India on Indian side and Mr. Najeeb Mohammed Al Ali, Executive Director, Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau on behalf of Expo 2020 at the Expo site in the presence of Shri Navdeep Suri, Ambassador of India to UAE, Shri Vipul, Consul General of India, Dubai and Dr. Tarek Shayya, Board Director-Chief International Participants Officer, Dubai Expo.

The contract provides for the setting up of India pavilion at Expo 2020 on an extra large plot (about one acre) in the 'Opportunity' segment. This is tune with the great opportunity for economic activity that India provides today on the way to becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2025. Focus will be given to India's advances in Space, Pharma, IT, Renewable Energy, Telecom sectors.

The pavilion will be developed in public-private partnership mode. Leading industries and businesses will work with Central government and State governments to participate in India's pavilion. A number of state governments, various ministries of central government and major industry associations and businesses have shown interest in partnering and participating in World Expo 2020 which will take place for six months beginning October 2020.

Commerce & Industry Minister, Shri Suresh Prabhu has expressed his happiness on the signing of the contract. Commerce Secretary, Smt. Rita Teaotia has held meetings with stakeholders and industry associations like FICCI and CII for helping the Government in making India's participation a memorable and befitting one.

Tags : MOU Signing of World Expo

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Press Information Bureau

10.04.2018

Civil

Crowd sourcing of data on Prices of 22 essential food items monitored by Department of Consumer Affairs through its website

MANU/PIBU/0727/2018

Price Monitoring Cell in the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) is monitoring the retail and wholesale prices of 22 essential food commodities on a daily basis. These 22 commodities include five items groups i.e. Food grains (Rice, Wheat, Atta), Pulses (Gram, Tur, Urad, Moong, Masur), Edible Oils (Groundnut Oil, Mustard Oil, Vanaspati, Soya Oil, Sunflower Oil, Plam Oil), Vegetables (Potato, Onion, Tomato) and other items (Sugar, Gur, Milk, Tea, Salt). This is being done through 101 centres across the country. Price Monitoring Cell analyses the price situation and gives advance feedback for taking appropriate policy measures to prevent undesired shortfall in the availability of essential commodities.

To enable wider spread and coverage of area for which prices are captured and as a follow up to the recommendation of Committee of Secretaries, this Department has developed and uploaded a software on its website for collecting prices of these 22 essential food commodities through crowd sourcing and stakeholder participation. The link of the website is: https://consumeraffiars.nic.in/pmc/. Citizens, retail and wholesale businesses, Voluntary Consumer Organisations and all other stakeholders are invited to register on this portal and enter prices of their locality. Users will have to register only once on the portal to get user id and password instantly and enter prices of their locality.

Tags : Data Monitoring food items

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Press Information Bureau

09.04.2018

Defence

Government Contracts World Class Bullet Proof Jackets for Army Under 'Make In India' Initiative

MANU/PIBU/0722/2018

A major contract through capital procurement route, for procurement of 1,86,138 Bullet Proof Jackets (BPJs) has been signed. The impending requirement of the Indian Army for effective BPJs, has been met after successful conduct of stringent field evaluation trials.

The contracted BPJs have contemporary and state-of-the-art specifications with added protectional level and coverage area. These ergonomically designed BPJs have modular parts, thereby providing immense protection and flexibility to soldiers operating in different operational situations ranging from long distance patrolling to high risk room intervention scenarios. The new BPJs will provide 360 degree protection to the soldier in combat, including from latest hard steel core bullets.

The concerns for BPJs for the Indian Army, have been raised at the highest levels, even in the civil domain and media reports amidst heightened security situation, along the borders and in the hinterland in the disturbed areas. The provisioning of this operationally urgent and very critical equipment concerning personal ballistic protection, will boost the confidence of the soldier and provide moral ascendency to security forces.

The case was processed as a 'Buy Indian'. The provision of these new BPJs was done by Indian manufacturers who were successful in the trials. This has given an impetus to the 'Make in India' initiative of the Government, and provides confidence that the Indian Industry is capable of fulfilling the requirements of Indian Army for its personal protective equipment.

Tags : Jackets Bullet proof Contract

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Securities and Exchange Board of India

09.04.2018

Capital Market

Measures to strengthen Algorithmic Trading and Co-location / Proximity Hosting framework

MANU/SSMD/0012/2018

1. SEBI, vide circular CIR/MRD/DP/09/2012 dated March 30, 2012 and circular CIR/MRD/DP/16/2013 dated May 21, 2013 put in place the broad guidelines for algorithmic trading in the securities market. Further, SEBI, vide circular CIR/MRD/DP/07/2015 dated May 13, 2015 and circular SEBI/HO/MRD/DP/CIR/P/2016/129 dated December 01, 2016 laid down guidelines to ensure fair and equitable access to the Co-location/proximity hosting facility offered by stock exchanges.

2. In order to address the concerns relating to algorithmic trading and co-location / proximity hosting facility offered by stock exchanges and to provide a level playing field between Algorithmic/ Co-located trading and manual trading, SEBI issued a discussion paper on August 5, 2016 requesting market participants to provide their views on the efficacy and need to introduce further mechanisms to address the aforementioned concerns.

3. In light of the public comments received and in consultation with Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of SEBI and Secondary Market Advisory Committee (SMAC) of SEBI, it has been decided to introduce the following measures in connection with algorithmic trading and co-location / proximity hosting framework facility offered by stock exchanges.

Managed Co-location Service

4. In order to facilitate small and medium sized Members, who otherwise find it difficult to avail co-location facility, due to various reasons including but not limited to high cost, lack of expertise in maintenance and troubleshooting, etc. to avail co-location facility, stock exchanges shall introduce 'Managed Co-location Services'. Under this facility, space/rack in co-location facility shall be allotted to eligible vendors by the stock exchange along with provision for receiving market data for further dissemination of the same to their client members and the facility to place orders (algorithmic / non-algorithmic) by the client members from such facility.

5. The vendors shall provide the technical knowhow, hardware, software and other associated expertise as services to trading members and shall be responsible for upkeep and maintenance of all infrastructure in the racks provided to them.

6. Stock exchanges shall supervise and monitor such facilities on a continuous basis. While allowing such services, stock exchanges shall continue to abide by the provisions of SEBI circular CIR/MRD/DP/07/2015 dated May 13, 2015 and circular SEBI/HO/MRD/DP/CIR/P/2016/129 dated December 01, 2016, including remaining responsible and accountable for actions of vendors providing Managed Co-location Services and ensuring integrity, security and privacy of data, being handled at the facility.

7. Further, in order to have fair competition, stock exchanges are advised to ensure that multiple vendors are permitted for providing Managed Co-location Services at their co-location facility.

Measurement of Latency for Co-location and Proximity Hosting

8. Clause 3.9 of SEBI circular CIR/MRD/DP/07/2015 dated May 13, 2015, mandated stock exchanges to publish suitable quarterly reports on their websites on latencies observed at the exchange.

9. Currently, latency is measured by the Stock Exchange as the time taken to complete the round trip from the Core Router (Core Router is the place where both Co-location orders and Non-co-location orders meet) to the matching engine and back. In order to bring in greater transparency, stock exchanges shall additionally publish minimum, maximum and mean latencies and latencies at 50th and 99th percentile.

10. Stock Exchanges shall also publish reference latency, which is the time taken for an order message to travel between a reference rack in the Co-location facility and the Core Router.

Free of Charge Tick-by-Tick Data feed (TBT Feed)

11. Tick-by-Tick (TBT) data feed offered by stock exchanges provides a detailed view of the entire order-book, which includes details relating to addition, modification and cancellation of orders and trades on a real-time basis.

12. In order to create a more level playing field among the different types of market participants, Stock Exchanges shall provide TBT Feeds to all the trading members, free of cost, subject to trading members creating the necessary infrastructure for receiving and processing it.

13. After assessing the needs of the market participants, stock exchanges may increase the depth of snapshot of 5 best bid and ask quotes currently being provided by them.

Penalty on Order to Trade Ratio (OTR)

14. In order to ensure orderly trading in the market, vide circulars no. CIR/MRD/DP/ 09 /2012 dated March 30, 2012 and CIR/MRD/DP/ 16 /2013 dated May 21, 2013, stock exchanges were advised to put in place effective economic disincentives for high daily order-to-trade ratio (OTR) of algo orders placed by trading members. In order to encourage algo traders to place more orders closer to the last traded price (LTP), the following modification shall be carried out in the existing OTR framework:

a. Instead of orders placed within ñ1%, orders placed within ñ0.75% of the LTP shall be exempted from the framework for imposing penalty for high OTR.

b. Orders placed in the cash segment and orders placed under the liquidity enhancement schemes shall also be brought under the OTR framework.

Unique Identifier for Algorithms / Tagging of Algorithms

15. Clause 6 (vi) of SEBI circular CIR/MRD/DP09/2012 dated March 30, 2012, prescribed that all algorithmic orders be tagged with a unique identifier provided by the stock exchange in order to establish audit trail.

16. In order to ensure enhanced surveillance, stock exchanges shall now allot a unique identifier to each algorithm approved by them. Stock exchanges shall ensure that every algorithm order reaching on exchange platform is tagged with the unique identifier allotted to the respective algorithm and that such unique identifier tags are part of the data set sent / shared with SEBI for surveillance purpose.

Testing Requirement for Software and Algorithms

17. SEBI, vide Circular no. CIR/MRD/DP/24/2013 dated August 19, 2013, inter alia, prescribed the testing procedure to be followed by market participants before deployment of software and algorithms. In order to further streamline and strengthen the process of testing of software and algorithms, stock exchanges may provide a simulated market environment for testing of software including algos. Such a facility may be made available over and beyond the current framework of mock trading prescribed by SEBI.

18. Stock exchanges shall ensure that the tagging of each order each algorithm with its unique identifier is completed by September 30, 2018, while the other provisions of the circular shall be complied with at the earliest but not later than June 30, 2018.

19. Stock Exchanges are directed to:

a. take necessary steps to put in place systems for implementation of the circular, including necessary amendments to the relevant bye-laws, rules and regulations;

b. bring the provisions of this circular to the notice of the stock brokers / clearing members and also disseminate the same on their website;

c. communicate to SEBI the status of implementation of the provisions of this circular through monthly development report.

20. This circular is being issued in exercise of powers conferred under Section 11 (1) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, read with Section 10 of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate the securities market.

21. This circular is available on SEBI website. "Legal Frame work Circulars".

Tags : Trading Measures Strengthening of

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Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

09.04.2018

Media and Communication

TRAI conducted an Open House Discussion (OHD) on Consultation Paper on "Making ICT Accessible for Persons with Disabilities"

MANU/TRAI/0047/2018

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) convened an Open House Discussion on Consultation Paper on "Making ICT Accessible for Persons with Disabilities" on 5th April, 2018.

1. Over the last two decades, telecommunication and broadcasting services have become ubiquitous and now reach out to the most remote and underserved areas empowering millions of people. However, persons with disabilities (PwDs) are often not able to access the ICT services on account of lack of necessary accessibility features or unaffordable prices of the equipment or due to unavailability of required services to make them compatible for use by such persons.

2. Keeping the above in view, TRAI suo-moto floated a consultation paper on 20th December, 2017 to identify the key areas where policy interventions are needed to understand the barriers being faced by the PWDs in accessing the telecom and broadcasting services so that affirmative actions at policy level in the form of recommendations to the Government or formulation of regulation or advisory to equipment/service providers or a combination of these can be taken. Thirty-two stakeholders including state governments, industry associations, telecom & broadcasting service providers, NGOs, etc. forwarded their comments on the issues raised in the consultation paper.

3. Further, an OHD was convened on 5th April, 2018 to obtain inputs from all stakeholders. There was a good response to the OHD wherein a number of stakeholders including telecom & broadcasting service providers, industry associations, NGOs, academia etc participated and offered their valuable comments on the issues raised in the consultation paper, viz. challenges faced by PWDs in accessing telecommunication and broadcasting services, reasons for not getting desired benefits despite several past policy interventions, corrective measures required to be taken by the Government, need to adopt international accessibility standards, mandate for telecom and broadcasting services by Government, manner in which CSR fund of the companies can be used for development of assistive tools, services, applications, etc. The stakeholders reiterated the need to have uniform policy on the issue so that the unique challenges faced by the PwD community are addressed.

Tags : Discussion ICT Accessibility

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